Deep Fried Twinkies: Confessions From A Man Who Can’t Get Enough Of A Bad Thing

It’s county fair time.

Image by vpickering via Flickr

From toss-the-ring-on-the- bottle, to the teacup ride, to the barn where the kids show off their prize pig, it’s as old-time as you can get in this modern age. From the pie contest, to the demolition derby, to the house of haunted mirrors, there’s no better display of Americana than the local county fair.

And then there’s the food.
Jam it on a stick, and it sells. Corn dogs, pickles, jam doughnuts, and chicken. And don’t miss the elephant ears, fried carmelized onions, lemon shake-ups, turkey legs, chocolate-dipped pickles and funnel cakes.

And most of all, don’t forget the deep-fried Twinkie.

I would never eat a Twinkie at lunch. Take a look at the label and you’ll be amazed at the polyunsaturated badness. And they don’t even taste that good on their own, the flavor muted by the additives that give it a 24-month shelf life.

But drop one of those babies in a deep fryer, and I’m hooked.

If theres’ an axiom in American culture today, it’s that there’s nothing like unhealthiness compounded exponentially. If we’re drinking a 32-ounce soda pop, why not get the 44-ounce cup? Why mess with a double when a triple burger is available? Once we’ve gained 30 pounds, what’s another 20?

I wonder if I live my life that way? Once I start down a path that’s wrong, do I keep walking? Once I entertain an evil thought, do I think about it some more? Once I taste a sin, do I take another bite?

How about you? Do you deep fry your Twinkies?
Comment here.

“For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” — St. Paul, Romans 7

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